What grade do you give the non-conference schedule?

What grade do you give the non-conference?

  • A

    Votes: 6 11.8%
  • B

    Votes: 28 54.9%
  • C

    Votes: 12 23.5%
  • D

    Votes: 5 9.8%

  • Total voters
    51
  • Poll closed .

howeda7

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With the non-conference complete, what grade do you give the Gophers?
 

B grade for keeping on pace (doing what they had to do). B- grade vis-a-vis general expectations. It's not the 2 losses; those are understandable, but one of them was a blowout and the team really underperformed in a number of non-conference wins.
 

To recap: B is running away with the poll and that is apparently only good enough for Last 4 In when they were in the 8/9 game three wins ago.
 

A 2-2 split of the following looks like a solid B (B- maybe) at this point:

(@)Providence - win
(N)Alabama - win
(H)Miami - loss
(@)Arkansas - loss

Arkansas and Alabama looking good. Providence will be a factor.

The Providence and Alabama games look like the easiest two of the four so no B+.

Having the Nebraska debacle interjected in the middle puts a bad taste in the mouth for non-conference outlook.
 

Alabama toasting #5 Texas A&M at home.
 



I went with a B, though I guess it really depends on how you view the question. 11-2 is certainly a nice start, but the 2 losses were (to this point) in the most important games for NCAA seeding purposes. I also think that the Miami game was huge for momentum for the program. That was a nationally televised game at home between two top 15 teams and a chance to really get people excited about Minnesota basketball. Unfortunately it was the same result as seemingly every other really big home game in the basketball/football. There should be another chance at home against Michigan State, but you only get so many of these games.

If I went with how I'd grade the non-conference schedule from a pure performance standpoint, I'd go with C- maybe? I am really concerned that this team could actually miss the NCAA tournament with the way they have been playing.
 

I voted C. Won 2/4 against the formidable opponents which is the minimum acceptability threshold. I truly think the injuries to Dupree and Mason and seeing extended minutes from IW and Michael Hurt, while a detriment in some preseason game, could be instrumental in achieving an "A" in the conference slate. Of course, this assumes Mason and Dupree make full recoveries. For the first time this season I feel like we have a solid 7-man rotation and dare I say 8 if Konate can continue to play productive minutes when Lynch and Murph need a breather or are in foul trouble.
 

Considering two of the four power 6 games were on the road and the only home game was a top 10 team, I think a solid B is warranted. The Nebraska game absolutely colored folks perceptions, which is understandable. But if you can remove that, the only truly disappointing non-conference game was Arkansas.
 



I'll give it a C+. In retrospect, I don't think Miami is going to be a top 20 team this season, that's a game we have to win at home. I figured we'd lose the Arkansas game considering how tough they are at home, so no shame in that. I think Bama will make the tournament, but I don't think Providence will, so this OOC schedule will only net one win against a tournament team, last year we had 3 such wins. Also, the struggles against the likes of Drake and Oral Roberts also leave a bad taste in my mouth.
 

Given the preseason expectations, I'd go with a 'C'. I think the wins against Alabama and Providence will look better and better as the season goes on. However, getting destroyed by Arkansas and almost losing to Drake brings the grade down. I've also seen Miami play a number of times this year, and they have not looked very impressive (outside of their game with us). They'll go to the NCAA tournament, but I don't think they are worthy of a top-25 ranking right now (eye test and wins). Many agreed that they had to win 2 of the 4 games against Providence, Alabama, Miami, and Arkansas at the minimum, and that's what they did... the minimum.

A 'C' might seem harsh, but I think it's warranted, especially with the bad basketball we've seen this team play at times in the last month.
 

Ummm, we lost by double digits to Nebraska.

C
 

B grade for keeping on pace (doing what they had to do). B- grade vis-a-vis general expectations. It's not the 2 losses; those are understandable, but one of them was a blowout and the team really underperformed in a number of non-conference wins.

This a perfect summary (and grades), in my opinion.

I expected 11-2, with losses to Providence and Alabama (instead losses were to the other 2 good non-conference opponents). Gophers held serve, but Nebraska loss (intermixed among those) has Gophers 1 game behind the 8-ball heading into Big Ten re-start.
 









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